Page 75 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

KOB ANTELOPE

Three Endangered
Rothschild’s giraffes
were relocated to
Kidepo in 2015.

REVITALISING UGANDA’S NORTHERN WILDERNESS
Kidepo Valley National Park is successful relocation efforts. Three
home to 500 bird species and 86 Endangered Rothschild’s giraffes
mammals (28 of which can be found were relocated here in 2015, bringing
nowhere else in Uganda, including the total herd in the park to 35; 11
the cheetah, caracal, lesser kudu, eland were brought here from Lake
mountain reedbuck and Guenther’s Mburu in 2004, since when the herd
dik-dik). Together with the largest has swelled to almost 50-strong;
buffalo population of any park in and, most recently, the 112 Ugandan
Africa, there’s an estimated 700 kob arrived. Now there are even
elephants and about 120 lions. discussions about relocating black
Kidepo has been the scene of several rhino from Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.

Right: predation from Murchison must have been pregnant because
ff
ff
of buffalo by lions within a month the ‘refugees’ had dropped their first
could potentially young. Kob can breed twice a year and within three more
be eased now
the kob have months there were 25 babies in the herd.
turned up. The early signs are promising, and discussions are
Below: Johnson already underway for the translocation of more kob from
Augustine Murchison. “We’re still monitoring predation pressure
Masereka
recalls when the on the herd in Kidepo,” says UWA executive director
antelopes first Dr Andrew Seguya. “We’re in the planning stages and
appeared in possibly by mid-2018 we’ll be ready to transport more.”
the valley. All well and good, but nature has shown time and
again that the most well-meaning intervention can lead to
unforeseen ripple effects. The arrival of kob on the menu
could turn out to be good news for Kidepo’s buffalo, but if
kob numbers and accessibility elevate them to the position
of preferred lion prey then there’s a chance that the already
massive buffalo population could be left with virtually no
predation pressure and might grow unchecked.
Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger Philip Akorongimoe
sees little reason for worry, though. “We now have about
13,000 buffalo in the park and the majority roam Narus
Valley,” he says. “Numbers could rise above 20,000 and
it would still be fine as long as they spread their range
into Kidepo Valley as well.”
SMELLY DETERRENT
For the time being, though, the Kidepo lions don’t seem
to know what to make of the new arrivals. Moreover,
at least one of the kob has demonstrated a seemingly
cunning survival strategy.
A lone male kob – the rangers call him Walter – who
damaged his leg, perhaps during the relocation, now
walks with a pronounced limp. He also seems to have
developed something of an identity crisis because he
February 2018 BBC Wildlife 75